Long March 5 Debut Launch - Live Thread

mission badges just make me think of Tharsis now

here we go lads

rumors of another slip to 1200 UTC

Did it go already? Stream doesnt show much...

still on the pad

car driving right up to pad, obviously delayed at this point

Any reason for the delay?

and now they're broadcasting cheesy elevator music

SCRUB

no, but not unexpected to have teething problems with a brand-new rocket on a brand-new pad at a brand-new launch facility.

>spratly islands

Not Spratly Islands,
it's Hainan, Wenchang spaceport.
Look at pic, Merkin.

Look to the south of it
all those red dots

launch NOT scrubbed

liftoff in 10 minutes
>youtube.com/watch?v=Y0JA8m9KA4o

Here we go lads

AND ITS GONE

LIFTOFF

Stage Sep and Second Stage Ignition

Is China launching way more now or is it just that they let the world watch now?

both

launching more. Since 2009, they have been sending up move than 15 rockets a year, compared to less than ten a year before that. A lot of that is due to implementing their own GPS constellation (Compass), but it is also a measure of China's growing economy.

This launch completes the switchover from their old ICBM-based tech to a new generation LOX-kerosene rocket family. Long March-6 replaces LM-4 for sun-synchronous orbits and LM-2 for light LEO payloads, LM-7 replaces LM-2F for medium LEO and light GEO (and later manned missions, maybe), and now LM-5 will surpass LM-3 for the heaviest payloads and GEO satellites. Some of the increase in capability is moving to the more southerly Wenchang launch center for these launches. And all of them will be safer for using non-toxic propellants and launching over the ocean instead of their own territory.